Electrically-controlled railway-signal



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet- I.

F. MOBRIEN- ELEUTRIGALLY GONTROLLED RAILWAY SIGNAL. No. 512,051.

Patented Jan. 2 1894.

"nae NATIONAL LIYHOGRAPHING co vusumeto wwwn. n. a

(No Model-.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. MOBRIEN. ELEGTRIOALLY CONTROLLED RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 512,051. Patented Jan. 2, 1894.

" l llllllih Q wvmeooeo @51 M4 abbowwqa THE lu'nonm. u-moammmca COMPANY.

WASHINGTON. n. c.

I UNITED STATES PATENT EETQE.

FRANK MOBRIEN, OF NEWARK, NElV JERSEY.

ELECTRlCALLY-CONTROLLED RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,051, dated January2, 1894.

Application filed September 25,1893. Serial No. 486,419. (No model.)

cheapen the construction, and insure the safety of operation of suchdevices.

In carrying outthe invention a signal device will be located at one endof each protected section or district of the railway, and where a numberof signals are used, the line of way will be divided into a plurality ofsections of a suitable length, and asignal placed at one end of eachsection. Each signal will be automatically set by a train entering theprotected district, and willremain set until the entire train shall havepassed out of said district, when electrical releasing devices will beautomatically operated, which will restore the signal to its normalcondition. In a prior application filed by me on the 27th day of July,1893, Serial No. 481,599, such a system was described,but involvedaninsulated wire extending between the terminals of a section or protecteddistrict to control the releasing devices. My present inventiondispenses with the use of such an insulated wire, and the rails of thetrack are made to accomplish the same result. The successive rails willpreferably be bonded at their joints by goodrestoring circuit and itsconnections are operat ve with any signal which may be automatically setby the entrance of a train, I prefer to use a mechanically set signal,such as that described in a patent to James Wayland, No. 492,598, datedFebruary 28, 1893.

An important feature of' the invention is the concentration of all theoperating and controlling apparatus, aside from the track, at the signalstation. I

' Another important feature is the influence exerted by the position ofthe signal itself upon the controlling devices. 7

The several features of novelty of the invention will be moreparticularly hereinafter explained, and will be definitely indicated inthe claims appended to this specification.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, Figure 1 isa sectional view, partly in elevation, of the Wayland type of signalabove referred to, with my improvements attached, and Fig. 2 is adiagram showing two successive signals and their connections with twosections of a railway track.

At the entrance of each section will be placed a signaling device, suchas a semaphore, which will be automatically set by the entering train.The apparatus for setting the signal as shown in Fig. 1 comprises apivoted tread-lever 1 placed at the side of a rail 2 and provided withan inclined shoulder 3, which forces laterally a pivoted arm at againstthe tension of a stout spring 5, when the tread-lever is depressed bythe weight of a passing train. The arm 4 is provided with a beveledshoulder cooperating with a shoulder on the tread-lever 1. In thedrawings, the tread-lever 1 is shown depressed, and the co-operation ofthe two shoulders forces the lever laterally against the tension of itsspring and looks it in such position by reason of the shoulder 3interlocking with the shoulder on the arm 4. A sliding connection isformed between a rod or tube inclosed by the spring and a headed rod 6pivotally connected with a bell-crank lever 7 mounted on suitablebearings at the base of the signal post. One end of the bell-crank leveris flexibly connected with a vertical rod 8 connected at its upper endto a semaphore provided with a counter-balance 9. A stud bolt 10 isprovided on extension of the rod 6, and co-operates with the hookedextension of a weighted lever 11, which is provided with a latchengaging a detent onan armature 12 of a restoring electro-magnet 13.

From the construction thus far described it Will be seen thatwhen thetread-lever 1 is depressed by a passing train, it will first compressthe spring 5 and lock it in the compressed condition, the slidingconnection between the tube inclosed by the spring and the rod 6permitting this to occur instantaneously under the weight of the engine.The rod 6 will then be free to be shifted laterally by the bell-cranklever 7, under the influence of the counter-balance 9 of the semaphore,and the semaphore Will rise to a danger position, where it' will remainuntil the electro-magnet 13 is energized, when the weighted lever 11will be unlatched and, dropping, its hooked extension near the pivotwill strike stud bolt 10 and shift the lever 6 sufficiently far topermit the spring-pressed tread-lever 1 to rise, thus releasing thespring 5 and permitting it to exert a sudden thrust upon the weightedlever 11 and again lift it to or a little beyond the position shown inthe drawings, where it will again be latched, because the releasingaction which energized the magnet 13 was only momentary, andsimultaneously the bellcrank lever draws down the semaphore and elevatesits counter-weight.

In order to control the releasing magnet so that it will only beactuated after a train has entirely passed out of the protected section,I provide the signal with a relay 14: normally connected in closedrelation to a battery 15, but provided at its two sides with directconnections 16, 17 with the two rails of the track.

' The armature of the relay is connected in a releasing circuitcontaining a battery 18 and two circuit-closing devices, one of which isthe armature of the relay itself, and the other of which is acircuit-closer 19 mounted on the signal rod 8. So long as either ofthese circuit controlling devices is open the magnet 13 will bede-energized. The circuit-closer 19 is automatically set in closedrelation to its contacts, by the passage of a train and the setting of asignal, but during the presence of any part of a train in the protectedsection the relay is de-energized, being shortcircuited by the wheels ofthe train, and the releasing circuitwill therefore be maintainedinoperative until the train has completely passed out of the section,when, the short-circuit by way of the rails being opened, the relayarmature is attracted and the releasing circuit closed by way of thecircuit-closer 19, thus energizing the releasing magnet, lifting thelatch 12, permitting the weighted lever 11 to release the spring 5, anddraw down the semaphore to a safety position against the counter-balance9. It will thus be seen that all of the controlling apparatus of thesignal is localized at the signal station itself and no insulated wiresare required between the successive section's, thus dispensing withconsiderable expense of wiring, nor are any track instruments, exceptthe mechanical device 1 which sets the signal, needed. It will also beseen that the battery which controls the relay being closely ad acent tothe same, the operation of the system will not be interfered with by wetweather, for by making the resistance of the relay coll comparativelylow, an absolute short-circuit, such as is afforded by the wheel andaxle of a car, will be required to cause the relay armature to drop off.A wide margin of safety is thus afforded and with a small local battery.Moreover, no change of adjustment of the relay is required to make itoperative 1n different kinds of weather. If the circuit connections, asis ordinarily the case, ran from the distant end of a section, leakageof current in wet weather would be sufficient to render a readjustmentof the relay necessary. By reason of the connections it will be evidentthat if a train should break and part ofit pass out of the protecteddistrict, any part of 1t which remained in the district would prevent aclear signal to an approaching train. The employment of theauxiliarycircuit-closer 19 prevents any malicious interference with asignaling device, for, if the tread-lever should be accidentally ormaliciously operated, so as to raise the semaphore to a danger position,the circuit-closer 19 would close the c rcuit of the battery 18 onmagnet 13, and thus hold up the armature 12, thus permitting the weightto drop back and release the spr ng 8 to draw the semaphore back to aposltion of safety, during which the circuit-closer 19 opens the circuitat that point and permits armature 12 to drop off and latch the welghtwhen thrown up under the stress of the spring 5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway signal a mechanically operated signal set by a passingtrain, a releasing magnet for the signal, and a circuit closer operatedby the signal when set toclose a circuit containing the releasingmagnet, and thereby restore the signal if operated w1thout the presenceof a train. a

2. A railway signal comprising a signal device and means for setting thesame, a releasing magnet, a normally chargedrelay con.- trolling thereleasing magnet, and electric connections from the sides of the relaydirectly to the track, whereby danger of restoring the signal by leakageof current is avoided.

3. A railway signal provided with means for automatically setting asignal, a releasing magnet, a relay in a continuously closed localcircuit controlling said. magnet, and branch connections from the sidesof the re lay to the track rails, all of said instrumentalities beingplaced at the signal station,

4. A railway signal provided with a signal device at the end of asection, means for'automatically setting the same upon the passcribed myname this 22d day of September, sage of a train, a relay orelectro-magnet of A. D. 1893. low resistance controlling the releasingof the signal,a local battery in operative relation to I FRANK MCBRIEN'5 the relay, and branch connections from the Witnesses: v

sides of the relay to the track rails. ROBT. H. READ,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub- JOHN T. MURPHY.

